Baseball Musings: Double Secret Probation

November 19, 2008

Double Secret Probation

Tony Massaroti is making stuff up. He believes the Red Sox will offer Mark Teixeira the biggest contract in club history. Why?

When the Sox want something enough, they make sure they get it.
In the case of Teixeira, rest assured that the Sox want him, no matter what games are being paid by club officials. Publicly and privately, the Sox are saying nothing about their interest in Teixeira and playing dumb every time his name comes up. It's as sure a sign as any that they are preparing to go to extraordinary lengths. Last year, in the midst of the Johan Santana trade talks, the Sox were far more forthcoming about who and what they were willing to offer. When all was said and done, the Sox were not interested in acquiring Santana so much as they were interested in driving up the price for the rival Yankees; as it turned out, they kept Santana out of the Bronx altogether.

So the fact that the Red Sox aren't interested in Teixeira is a sure sign they are interested in Teixeira. An amazing bit of logic that. Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe hope Boston isn't interested in them either.

"CC, which team will you sign with?"

"Probably Boston. They haven't shown any interest in me, so I should be getting 10 years, $250 million!"

Yep, that's just the way it works.

Posted by David Pinto at 03:48 PM | Free Agents | TrackBack (0)

Comments

I don't disagree with your point that TM is being kind of silly here, but the Sox did come out of nowhere in their huge bid for Matsuzaka in 06...

I think the right way to put it isn't that their lack of apparent interest is a "sure sign they are interested," but rather that their lack of apparent interest definitely does not preclude a big, competitive bid for Teixeira.

Posted by: Nate at November 19, 2008 04:02 PM

Revision re: Matsuzaka: the Sox did SEEM to come out of nowhere. It was a similar situation, actually, with their name being floated around as "one of the players" but ownership et al. being mum.

Posted by: Nate at November 19, 2008 04:04 PM

The difference is that the Yankees were interested in Santana. Boston was in the talks partly to drive up the price for the Yankees, but they have no such incentive to drive up the price for Teixeira.

Posted by: Hei Lun Chan at November 19, 2008 07:27 PM

In Boston, we call him "Spazzarotti".

Nuf Ced

Posted by: Gary at November 19, 2008 07:29 PM

That's one of the dumbest pieces of speculation I've ever read. Nevermind the fact that the Sox don't even have a place for him to play yet, unless they have something worked out for Lowell or even less likely, Youkilis. In which case, what team is going to agree to a trade for one of them, contingent on the Sox getting Teix, and just sit there and wait to see what happens?

I can't believe I'm even spending time talking about this.

Posted by: Mike at November 19, 2008 09:36 PM

Sportswriters like this are the reason I hate sports sometimes.

Posted by: Mike at November 19, 2008 09:37 PM

Well it is a pretty safe bet that Youk is not going anywhere. But Mike Lowell could be another story. If the Sox got Texeira then Youk would have to go back to 3rd, no way the Sox are taking him out of the mix, so then the question becomes what becomes of Lowell?

Posted by: emains at November 19, 2008 09:45 PM

I've seen lots of speculation from other Boston writers that the Sox are interested in Teixeira. I don't know why Massaroti should get singled out. On Tuesday Gary Callahan speculated about a Sox pickup of Teixeira in the Boston Herald, and there have been many other such comments from many other writers.

Of course Teixeira makes sense for the Sox. Youkilis gets moved to third and Boston doesn't have to worry about the aging, often hurt Lowell any more. Not to mention that Teixeira is only the best all-round first baseman in the game. It would be amazing if the Sox weren't interested.

Posted by: Casey Abell at November 20, 2008 08:00 AM

Thank you David for this post. As a Sox fan, I have to read this crap on a daily basis. Mazz is decent, not great, but this is just fishing for something, trying to drive the hype machine.

And to comment on Casey. They're all saying this stuff. What happens, happens. WEEI is notorious for whacky propaganda.

Judging from the Crisp trade, I think our offseason will pan out well, but there are numerous scenarios. Just need to wait and see.

Posted by: Sandor Clegane at November 20, 2008 09:37 AM

And to comment on Casey. They're all saying this stuff. What happens, happens. WEEI is notorious for whacky propaganda.

Get ready for more whacky stuff. MLB.com reports that a source, conveniently anonymous, tells them Teixeira is actually leaning towards that supposed Nationals offer, so he could go back home.

Speculation abounds, as it should in the hot stove season. Massaroti hardly deserves special censure. I guess David just doesn't like Tony for some reason.

Posted by: Casey Abell at November 20, 2008 09:44 AM

Yeah, you're probably right about David vs. Mazz.

You know what drives me nuts Casey? Is listening to guys like Mazz and the other guys just hammer their positions on air and totally rip apart differing caller opinions. But that's sports talk radio, and that's why I made the choice to stop listening, right?

Posted by: Sandor Clegane at November 20, 2008 10:02 AM

Amen, Sandor. Why listen to the radio at all? Overall, though Massaroti is providing his opinion based on his observations of Sox mgmt. If he thinks they're playing Mickey the Dunce on Teixeira, then he's offering his opinion that based on what he's seen before the Sox will be in on Teix. It's up to us to separate his factual observations from his hyperbolic tone, i.e. that it's a lock they will get Teix.

Posted by: Bill at November 20, 2008 11:24 AM

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